Is Iran Next?

[orlythen]

Nice article

Several reporters and political commentators are reporting that they believe the White House is preparing to go to war with Iran, they point to the U.S moving a cruiser into the area along with Patriot Missiles both of which are unnecessary for Iraq.

VP Cheney was on Fox News yesterday saying that Iran was going to be dealt with, using much of the same language used before Iraq was invaded..

Another sign was the raid of an Iranian consulate in Iraq, which many analyst believe was intended to provoke Iran into retaliating so that the U.S could strike back with justification.

So is Iran next, and how bad is it going to be?

 

[GunitF]

I don't think the U.S has the capital/deranged lunacy to go after Iran. Even if Bush and Co were to try anything I think congress would nip it in the bud pretty quickly.

 

[Eddy361]

The United States bombed Somalia on the week before. Supposedly they bombed Al qaeda sites or something.

 

[KristinaF]

Let's hope so, anyway. After listening to him on 60 minutes the other night it's clear he still has no clue what's going on.

Until the Dubya years I thought that ignorance was bliss, now I think Dubya's ignorance is probably the scariest thing I've ever encountered.

"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity" ~ Albert Einstein

 

[rasberry003]

If he is...I'm moving to the Yukon.

 

[RealDinastia]

Iran would be a diffrent type of war. if and when.

 

[AlexisInfectious®]

But that assumes that Congress would actually know about it in advance! The article seems to suggest that Bush and his cronies might present Congress with a fait accompli.

There is hardly a shortage of precedents: Nixon mislead Congress over Cambodia, Reagan mislead Congress over Nicaragua.

I'm no expert on US history and politics, but there does seem to be a recent tendency for a certain type of President to subvert the Constitution by keeping certain controversial foreign policy decisions out of sight of Congress.

 

[bigdaddymentor]

Best question to ask is... Does Iran have loads of oil to exploit?

After all, Bush is in the oil industry. The two countries he has told to invade have oil. But there was talk of N. Korea.... No oil, no talk of invasion. Just sanctions. So where does It go from there now? After all, to solve Iraq, they think they need to push in more troops. Yeah Now more families will feel sad when their sons and daughters come home draped in a flag out of the back of a plane.

 

[robortking]

I agree, but I wouldn't rule out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, by either the US or the Israelis.

Mainly since the UN has already decided on their policy towards the Iranian nuclear program but failed to enforce it, it's a fairly clear justification for such attacks.

 

[Azucar]

Never rule out more stupidity from a sector and an administration that has already proven itself to be a veritible cornucopia of absurdity.

Having said that... I doubt that the US will strike Iran.

Iran has been historically a very big embarrassement for the US for many years. Those old enough to remember Iranian hostage crisis remember the amount of egg that the Americans ended up with on their hands through that entire ordeal. The Iranians don't really give a hoot what the Americans do. Sanctions didn't stop them from fighting the longest and most costly war of the 20th century against the former puppet regime that was Saddam's. Let's not forget that their current leaders in Iran came to power after giving the boot to the puppet government installed by the Americans.

Besides... Iran having nuclear weapons or the capability to produce weapons grade uranium will be the perfect exscuse for Israel to keep the nuclear capabilities that it already has - the same ones that America and her allies continue to ignore and look the other way on.

 

[ANON]

I thought it was pretty much a safe bet that Iran was 'next'. I'm pretty sure Bush would rush through an invasion of Disney World if it was discovered that Mickey and Co were mining uranium ore...

 

[teataleet]

or producing oil.

 

[LynneB]

The Israelis clearly don't need an excuse. And Iran actually getting the bomb would be a disaster, unless you thought the Cold War and it's 40 year nuclear standoff were like, really fun.

 

[adrianphones]

Or if Mickey went on The Disney Channel for a national address and said in his usual high pitched voice 'Hello boys and girls. Death to America!!!'



I don't fancy Disney World's defences against the Allied forces.

Seriously though, you're right the Iran situation is a huge embarassement for the Bush Administation, especially with it's defiance against nuclear sanctions imposed. We all hope Bush isn't dumb enough to fight this war with an invasion...

 

[vanillean]

Oh... that's right... course they don't.
Not as long as they're in tight with the United States.

The Russians and their nuclear weapons were'nt quite the evil commies that the American administration and media made them out to be. But it sure did sell a lot of weapons and inflate defense spending through the roof for many years.

Nothing new under the sun.

 

[Nicknamesr4losers]

Having an opinion is one thing, attempting to completely revise history is another.

The threat from the Soviets was real. They installed their governments in the Eastern Bloc countries and kept them there by force. There can be little doubt if not for the liberation of Western Europe by the Western allies that the "Eastern Bloc" would have included all of the previously Nazi-occupied mainland.

The fact of the Soviets having the bomb made direct military action against them impossible. Hence the "Cold" era of proxy wars.

To think Iran having the bomb would be anything but a disaster for everyone who doesn't share their ideology is delusional.



The sanctions were imposed unanimously by the UN Security Council, not by the US. If Iranian disregard for UN policy is an embarrassment to anyone, it's to the UN and anyone who still thinks there's "always an alternative to using force".

 

[Fieyr]

Whilst it is obvious that we cant allow Iran to obtain Nuclear weapons, it is also clear that they are a long way from developing their technology to that level. But lets face it, the US will do what the US will do, if Bush cared at all about the international communities opinion of him, he would have been found hanged in his closet years ago.

 

[urtenfifteen]

Bush and Cheney are lunatics, and I believe analysts are saying that the White House is trying to provoke Iran into confronting U.S forces directly so that they can justify a retaliation to Congress. There are a bunch of quotes somewhere in which Democrats comment on dealing with Iran, implying that Iran should have been our target and that we need to keep a military option on the table.

It seems Congress would support a military strike against Iran if Bush can provoke Iran into striking back.

The irony here is that peace between the U.S and Iran is relying on the restraint of the Iranian government...

CNN Article

Another

 

[dianew]

And who do you think were the main pursuers for the sanctions in the first place and who do you think will take action if forced to? I don't see the United Republic of Tanzania going in. But you're right it was a unanimous decision.

 

[davedimm]

You think you have a better idea for the setting for the next Bond film?